ISLAMABAD: Police, Rangers and army personnel will be stationed at three pickets at points of entry into the capital for security purposes.

The pickets have been set up at the Old Toll Plaza on the motorway, T-Cross in Rawat and the Sangjani Toll Plaza.

In addition to army and Rangers personnel, police and Counter Terrorism Department officials will also be deployed, with eight police officials and military and paramilitary officials at each post.

The teams will work in shifts of four to six hours, each of which will be supervised by an inspector or sub-inspector.

There are four pickets at various points of entry into Islamabad, police officers said, and 16 more in other parts of the city. They said the Anti-Narcotics Force arrested suspected narcotics smugglers and peddlers in an operation a week ago and recovered a significant quantity of drugs which were smuggled into the capital from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They said Tarnol and Golra are the most common points of entry used by narcotics smugglers to reach the capital.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Operations Waqaruddin Syed told Dawn that the army had proposed setting up joint pickets at Islamabad’s entry points in light of threats and the spread of the coronavirus. He said these pickets will be used for snap-checking and to counter the movements of suspicious elements.

The capital was placed on high alert earlier this month after directives from the DIG operations, and the Red Zone has been partially sealed. A week later, the police also issued security notices to prominent individuals, directing them to make security arrangements to avoid any untoward incidents.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2020